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New Vets Memorial will be much better

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I respond to last Monday’s letter “City should rethink its priorities” from Virginia H.
Songstad, who said it would be a shame to destroy the Franklin County Veterans Memorial.

Let’s consider that the original Vets Memorial, which gave us myriad shows and events (I
remember the Golden Gloves boxing matches there), was located on E. Broad Street, next to the
Christopher Inn and across from the original Wendy’s restaurant, all of which are gone.

COSI took that Broad Street space, and Vets Memorial was built on the west bank of the Scioto
River in Franklinton. That was an improvement for that area of town.

Now there are plans to tear it down and build a nice, new facility that would honor military
veterans and serve residents with more of the same quality shows and events.

Hundreds more events have taken place in that storied hall: high-school graduations; local shows
of talent such as Carmen Cavallero with the Columbus Maennerchor, the Columbus Swiss Singers and
the Germania Singing and Sport Society; Kenley Players with local casts, and so many more. What a
tremendous venue to enhance our culture.

A new structure will allow high-quality events with modern technology.

Imagine if the Roman Coliseum were torn down to make way for modern productions.

That would be a travesty, but Vets Memorial is not several thousand years old. It is just a
building.

The veterans will still be honored, and more wonderful events will come to a new facility.
Besides, the Coliseum hasn’t had any exciting shows for more than two millennia.